With neither general manager nor news director in place, KMGH Channel 7 is a station adrift.

When KMGH General Manager Byron Grandy abruptly left the station in September with no explanation, the corporate bosses at E.W. Scripps sent Steve Wasserman, an interim executive from WPTV West Palm Beach, to calm nerves and steady the ship.

Like the very pretty soap opera it is, “Downton Abbey” closed its season tied up with a neat bow. The finale included some great proposals and great lines — “you boobie!” and “We were the Edwardians” — and some narrative tracks that could give the producers ways to ease out certain characters in the future. Unconfirmed word is the next season will be “Downton’s” last. In an interview in London, Maggie Smith reportedly said next season is her last, whether or not the show continues.

Without Violet, the witty Dowager Countess, there would be little reason to watch. Except the prettiness of the wardrobe, the food, the period detail and the house itself. Pretty, sudsy TV drama seems less compelling with all the great serious drama currently available.

The teasing cliffhanger concerns Lady Mary and her potential new love interest Mr. Talbot, played by Matthew Goode (and his “snappy” sportscar). That may be the bigger bow yet to be tied.

A focus of Sunday’s season ender was the fond sendoff for Tom Branson (Allen Leech), the former chauffeur who married into the family, overcame the strict social heirarchy, taught the aristocrats a thing or two about humility and proved himself a loyal member of the family after Sybil’s death. While Julian Fellowes left the door open for Branson to return to Downton, it would contradict the narrative structure and feel like pandering to fans if the character were to move back into the fold.

The long awaited union of Mr. Carson and Mrs. Hughes, the reunion of Bates and Anna… it was all a tad easy and neat. But what did anyone expect? The happy-ever-after two hours originally aired as a Christmas special in the UK.

Nobody’s going to debate the plot lines. The question is, the curtain’s coming down on 1924, so when will Mr. Carson and Mrs. Hughes break down and use first names?

The sweeps period, when ratings are measured to set future advertising rates, shows that, while the overall number of metro area homes using television (HUT) in the morning hasn’t declined, the station standings have changed.

From 5-7 a.m. weekdays amoung adults 25-54, the KUSA wake-up show holds the lead with a 1.3 rating, down 27 percent from a year ago. But KCNC is a close second with a 0.9 rating, up 69 percent from a year ago. KMGH is a very close third with a 0.7 rating, down 10 percent from last year.

The 6 a.m. race similarly demonstrates alterations: KUSA scored a 1.8 rating, down 26 percent from a year earlier. KCNC scored a 1.2 rating, up 68 percent from a year earlier. Four-tenths of a point away from the leader. KMGH declined to a 0.8 rating, down 19 percent from a year earlier.

At the same time, nationally “CBS This Morning” posted the largest viewership in the time slot in more than 10 years, gaining 290,000 viewers to become “the only network morning broadcast to maintain its adults 25-54 rating compared to a year ago,” per CBS.

“We have a symbiotic relationship with “CBS This Morning,” said CBS4 News Director Tim Wieland. Locally, “the team is clicking.” The goal is to stick with harder news and information while competitors trade in lighter, more personality-driven fare in the morning.

The late-news contest points to similar movement. So far, KUSA is on track to win with a 3.8 rating at 10 p.m. (adults 25-54), down 25 percent from a year ago. KCNC is in position to finish second with a 2.2, up 5 percent from a year ago. KMGH will be third with a 1.4 rating, down 18 percent from a year ago. And KDVR will post a 0.9 rating, up 13 percent from a year earlier.

KUSA says they would expect to be down from last February’s numbers due to 2014’s Olympics broadcasts which ran for 14 days of the sweeps. Also, despite the Brian Williams debacle, “NBC Nightly News” still did a hefty number (3.83 rating), more than double the network competition and even higher than 9News at 10 p.m. (3.78 rating).

Political reporter and anchor Eli Stokols, who has made a mark covering Colorado politics for KDVR for the past seven years, has been hired by Politico to be based in Washington, D.C. and cover the 2016 election on a national platform. It was only a matter of time.

Stokols, who has served as co-anchor on KWGN on weeknights, written long political pieces for 5280 and hosted a political talk show, “COPolitics,” excelled at breaking stories and making politics understandable and intriguing to those of us couch.

He has made no secret of his national ambitions.

KDVR-KWGN News Director Holly Gauntt said in a memo to staff: “Both CNN and POLITCO have come knocking, each wanting Eli to join their political team. After much soul searching, Eli has chosen to accept the job with POLITICO. It is one of the most well respected political websites/blogs in the country.

Please join me in congratulating Eli on landing his dream job! Eli will be with us for a few more weeks while we look for his replacement.”

Stokols emailed, “After nearly a decade here, I’m excited about a chance to re-plant myself in a way. Politico has offered me an opportunity to take my journalism in a different direction, to cover the 2016 presidential race on a national platform and to be part of a team of reporters and editors that is second to none. I’m so grateful to Politico editor Susan Glasser for this opportunity and thrilled to have the chance to learn from her and so many others.

My girlfriend, Ellie Atkeson, and I are excited about what’s ahead for us and our chihuahua, Jasper, in DC. The hard part is starting to say goodbye to Colorado and so many friends, Fox31 colleagues, politicians and all the politicos who’ve made this work so fulfilling and so fun. Building real relationships is what enables a journalist to get information, to get at the heart of the story. It’s also what makes a transition like this bittersweet.”

Remembered as a gracious colleague, a great writer and the quintessential dashing foreign correspondent, CBS News correspondent Bob Simon dodged bullets in war zones and was held hostage in Iraq for 40 days. Simon died in a car accident in Manhattan Wednesday night at age 73.

CBS News said Simon was preparing a “60 minutes” report on the Ebola virus and the quest for a cure for it for this Sunday’s broadcast. He was working with his daughter, Tanya, a “60 Minutes” producer with whom he collaborated on several stories for the program.

His work was given a lifetime Peabody Award (one of four Peabodys he won) for reports that “ring with reason, truth and informed insight.” He won 27 Emmys for his field work. Simon’s report Simon’s story “Shame of Srebrenica,” about the massacre of civilians in the Bosnian War, also won the DuPont-Columbia University Silver Baton, electronic journalism’s highest honor.

“A real gentleman,” said John Ferrugia, a Denver TV investigative reporter who knew Simon from his days at CBS News and last exchanged emails with Simon regarding the “60 Minutes” corresondent’s piece on Mandy Patinkin in November.

The irony of his death, in New York, in a car crash, was not lost on those who knew him. “It’s a terrible loss for all of us at CBS News,” Jeff Fager, executive producer of “60 Minutes,” said in a statement. “It is such a tragedy made worse because we lost him in a car accident, a man who has escaped more difficult situations than almost any journalist in modern times. Bob was a reporter’s reporter.”

An outpouring on TV and social media met the official CBS News announcement of Simon’s death. Candy Crowley of CNN may have said it best: “A courageous, no-nonsense reporter with the touch of a poet,” she tweeted. “RIP Bob Simon.”

For “jeopardizing the trust millions of Americans place in NBC News,” Brian Williams will be suspended for six months without pay, the network announced Tuesday in a lengthy and crushing memo recounting instances of the anchor’s lack of truth-telling.

The note to staff from NBC News President Deborah Turness said an internal review is ongoing; Lester Holt will continue as substitute anchor.

While on Nightly News on Friday, January 30, 2015, Brian misrepresented events which occurred while he was covering the Iraq War in 2003. It then became clear that on other occasions Brian had done the same while telling that story in other venues. This was wrong and completely inappropriate for someone in Brian’s position.

In addition, we have concerns about comments that occurred outside NBC News while Brian was talking about his experiences in the field.

As Managing Editor and Anchor of Nightly News, Brian has a responsibility to be truthful and to uphold the high standards of the news division at all times.

Steve Burke, Pat Fili and I came to this decision together. We felt it would have been wrong to disregard the good work Brian has done and the special relationship he has forged with our viewers over 22 years. Millions of Americans have turned to him every day, and he has been an important and well-respected part of our organization.

As I’m sure you understand, this was a very hard decision. Certainly there will be those who disagree. But we believe this suspension is the appropriate and proportionate action.

This has been a difficult time. But NBC News is bigger than this moment. You work so hard and dedicate yourselves each and every day to the important work of bringing trusted, credible news to our audience. Because of you, your loyalty, your dedication, NBC News is an organization we can – and should – all be proud of. We will get through this together.

Steve Burke (executive VP of Comcast and President of NBC Universal) asked me to share the following message.

“This has been a painful period for all concerned and we appreciate your patience while we gathered the available facts. By his actions, Brian has jeopardized the trust millions of Americans place in NBC News. His actions are inexcusable and this suspension is severe and appropriate. Brian’s life’s work is delivering the news. I know Brian loves his country, NBC News and his colleagues. He deserves a second chance and we are rooting for him. Brian has shared his deep remorse with me and he is committed to winning back everyone’s trust.”

The resolution follows Williams’ self-imposed two-day absence from the NBC News anchor chair in light of his tortured apology/explanation for “conflating” facts regarding his time in Iraq. It comes amid a swirl of social media stings, late-night comedy jabs and criticism from journalistic colleagues left the network little choice.

The decision to move quickly toward a resolution was made reportedly because the entire network was preoccupied with the unfolding Williams drama.

Williams has been ridiculed for nearly a week for exaggerating his experience while covering the Iraq war in 2003. He had recounted on several occasions, including on David Letterman’s “Late Show,” an event when the military helicopter he was riding in came under fire from a rocket-propelled grenade. Crew members said he was in a following chopper. The controversy first came to light through a story in Stars & Stripes. Subsequent investigations have raised questions about Williams’ reporting during Hurricane Katrina as well.

NBC News over the weekend launched an internal investigation into the matter, putting investigative reporter Richard Esposito in charge. Critics have noted Esposito, the executive producer in charge of NBC’s investigative unit, is essentially tasked with investigating his boss.

The wonderfully dark comedy “Getting On” will get a third and final season on HBO, the network, cast and producers confirmed. The half-hour starring Laurie Metcalf, Alex Borstein and Niecy Nash about caregivers in the geriatric wing of a hospital, will return for another run of six episodes.

The comedy from Mark V. Olsen and Will Scheffer (“Big Love”), inspired by a British version, takes shots at the medical system and hospital bureaucracy while painting sometimes poignant portraits of nurse-patient relationships and the horrors of end-of-life care.

How should doctors help terminally ill patients prepare for death? FRONTLINE follows renowned author and surgeon Atul Gawande (pictured) as he explores the relationships doctors have with patients who are nearing the end of life. Photo provided by Frontline.

No whining. Time to buck up and consider the documentary “Being Mortal” premiering Feb. 10 on PBS Frontline, in conjunction with the best-selling book by surgeon and New Yorker writer Atul Gawande. It’s not easy viewing. But it is important.

“The two big unfixables are aging and dying,” Gawande notes. He goes on to explore how medicine repeatedly fails the people it is supposed to help when it comes to terminal illness.

Learning how to think and talk about end of life planning is crucial. “The lesson is, we can’t always realy on the doctor to lead the way,” he says. “Sometimes the patient has to.”

Gawande incorporates his father’s death in the story, going further to explore the relatively new art and science of palliative care. “Hope is not a plan,” Gawande says. “We find from our trials that we are literally inflicting therapies on people that shorten their lives and increase their suffering, due to an inability to come to good decisions.”

It matters to people how their lives come to a close. That seems so obvious, but modern medicine instinctively acts to rescue, or prolong. “Endings are important,” Gawande says in “Being Mortal.”

The casually but carefully worded, even artfully constructed explanation Brian Williams gave on “The NBC Nightly News” by way of apology Wednesday night spoke volumes about the Iraq War falsehood he concocted.

He admitted the fabrication Wednesday in an interview in Stars & Stripes when Army servicemen who had been aboard the aircraft in question challenged the anchorman’s account about being on a Chinook helicopter that came under fire. “I don’t know what screwed up in my mind that caused me to conflate one aircraft with another,” he said.

Conflating aircraft or confusing fact with fiction.

The witty, No. 1-rated, immensely likeable anchorman is now enmeshed in a crisis of his own making. It’s a crisis that will have reverberations throughout NBC News and will require disciplinary action. Firing is not out of the question.

Williams’ credibility has taken a serious hit. The network has said nothing about disciplinary action.

It’s a matter of deliberate conflating/lying: Variety reported that Williams was warned earlier by senior NBC management to stop telling the Iraq chopper story in public. Apparently he disregarded those warnings. If that is true, then he must step down.

On the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, a one-hour documentary, “Voices of Auschwitz,” airing Jan. 28, (locally 7 p.m. Wednesday on CNN), offers the inspiration of survivors and honors those who died in the Holocaust.

Four remarkable survivors tell their stories on camera, reliving memories of torture and loss and recalling the moment of liberation. Archival footage and current views of the camp combine in a moving film that finds light and life in a horrifically dark subject.

Wolf Blitzer (whose paternal grandparents died at Auschwitz) also talks to Steven Spielberg about the importance of never forgetting. Spielberg recalls finding “his calling” beyond the movies during the filming of “Schindler’s List.” That led him to found the University of Southern California Shoah Foundation which gathers video testimonials of survivors of the Holocaust. More than 53,000 accounts have been recorded in the archive, but, he says, “there are not going to be enough survivors for the 75th” anniversary.

The four featured here:
Eva Kor, who with her twin sister Miriam endured Mengele’s twin experiments. She determined early on, she tells Blitzer, “I was not going to perish here in Auschwitz.” Rising above anger and fear is “the ultimate victory,” she says.

Martin Greenfield, who survived the freezing death march by wearing layers of discarded Gestapo uniform shirts he obtained by working as a tailor in Auschwitz, says on camera, “I survived Auschwitz and I’m happy about it.” He is now a successful maker of hand-tailored suits.

Anita Lasker Wallfisch, survivor of Auschwitz. Image provided by CNN.

Renee Firestone, who survived by using her skills as an aspiring designer, eloquently describes the experience of being shipped to Auschwitz in cattlecars for three days with 120 people and no water. She doesn’t seek revenge. Her revenge is that she lived, she says.

Anita Lasker-Wallfisch survived by playing the cello in a makeshift orchestra at Auschwitz, and went on to become a founding member of the English Chamber Orchestra. “I never accepted that anybody had the right to murder me because I happened to be Jewish,” she says.

Joanne Ostrow has been watching TV since before "reality" required quotation marks. "Hill Street Blues" was life-changing. If Dickens, Twain or Agatha Christie were alive today, they'd be writing for television. And proud of it.